HOW TO MAKE A MIC FLAG OR MICROPHONE FLAG

Every time you look at the news or a tv press conference you see those microphones with the news station logo on it. That square box around the mic is called a mic flag and I will teach you how to make a microphone flag like the news reporter microphone. The purpose of the mic flag is to advertise whatever company the microphone belongs to. In most cases it is a television or radio station. T.V. stations have them in use when there are events where an interview is usually taking place like the red carpet or a sports game. Radio stations have them in their studio and they are often seen when live streams from the radio station are shown, these are on a recording studio mic or an on air mic flag and are shown mainly during an interview as well. But the purpose of the mic flags are the same. They are there to advertise a certain company.

Microphone flags are fairly easy to make. The process of how to make a mic flag requires very little technical knowledge and can be accomplished with a few basic items. For the process to go smoothly I would recommend the use of a Dremel or any other kind of rotary tool to make the necessary cuts for the flag. What you will need besides a rotary tool is a 2x3 inch or 3x3 in piece of hard styrofoam, a hot glue gun, and glue stick. Styrofoam can be purchased at your local Home Depot or at a store like Walmart or Kmart in the section that sells arts and craft products such as yarn, fabric, and stencils. It can also be purchased at an arts and craft or hobby shop. Once you have the desired size for your mic flag then place the microphone side by side with the square piece of foam at the desired height that you would like for your mic flag to be. Measure the microphone's diameter at where the top of the phone meets the microphone and where the bottom of the foam meets the microphone. Now draw a circle the same diameter that you measured the top of the microphone on the top of the foam and do the same for the measurement on the bottom. You should have a larger circle on the top of the styrofoam mic flag than you do at the bottom. Once you have the circles draw out then put a dot in the center of the top and bottom circles and use your rotary tool to cut directly down the center from the top dot to the bottom dot. Now slowly cut the styrofoam out of the middle of each circle until the top and bottom holes are completely cut out. Now test fit the microphone in the flag to get the desired fit. Once you have achieved a good fit then you use a hot glue gun and put a few drops of hot glue at the bottom of the mic flag where the mic meets the foam to tack it in place and ensure it hold without coming apart. The reason I said use hot glue instead of regular glue or super glue is because should you have a desire to make a new mic flag or remove the mic flag altogether then you can simply heat the hot glue up and it will easily remove from the microphone. Now you know how to make a microphone flag.  And you now have a blank mic flag.So let's customize it a little bit.

To make a custom mic flag is an easy task as well.  If you know the logo or picture that you want on the microphone flag then you can simply print the picture out in the same size as the measurement of the squares around the flag.  Make sure to make 4 pictures so that each side of the microphone shows the picture no matter how it's positioned.  Once you have printed out the four pictures then cut them out to the correct size.  Next you can use the hot glue gun and glue the pics to the mic flag all the way around.  This will give you the look of the flags like on a broadcast mic.  A tv broadcast microphone will look very similar is appearance to your new mic flag. 

If you would like to know how can you advertise on a mic flag then there are TONS of ways to do it.  Advertising is as simple as getting your logo or name out there in front of the audience or potential buyers and clients that you are trying to target with your product.  A microphone flag is good to use with this strategy when you are attempting to interview someone or if you are holding a press conference.  You don't necessarily have to be the one giving the interview you just need to have a microphone of your own set up with your logo or brand on it.  If cameras are around then surely they will video your logo and once the footage air then you have mass marketing.  This is a way the news media has done it for years.  Notice a lot of times when there is a major announcement and heavy news coverage such as celebrity scandal you will see many interviewer all with microphones with flags bearing their logos and this puts the brand in front of viewers that normally would never even know that they existed.  It's a form of marketing that will seldom fail to deliver proven results.